General Awareness Apr 2017 – Part -2 Answer the following question by choosing the best option from the choices given. 1. In April of 2017, the Union Ministry of Rural Development has released around Rs 23443 crores to the states, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). What will be the area of focus in this scheme this year? 1: Water conservation 4: Digital transactions in rural India 2: Clean India 5: None of the above 3: Rural women empowerment Ans: 1 Solution: This is the first budgetary installment for the financial year 2017-18. The money was released to ensure there is no delay in the work towards water conservation. This time under the MGNREGS scheme, the government is laying special focus on water conservation and water management. The Rural Development ministry has also advised all the states to see that water conservation efforts are made wherever required with proper technical and scientific scrutiny. The ministry in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Resources has also developed a set of guidelines for Mission Water Conservation that has already been shared with the states. 2. In April of 2017, the Lok Sabha has passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Third Amendment) Bill, 2017. What is the focus of this Bill? 1: Digital Transactions in Rural India 4: Make in India 2: Backward classes 5: None of the above 3: Minority groups Ans: 2 Solution: The Bill seeks to give constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes. The Bill seeks to insert a new Article 338B in the Constitution. The Article provides for the National Commission for Backward Classes, its composition, mandate, functions and various officers. The Bill also seeks to insert a new Article 342-A, which empowers the President to notify the list of socially and educationally backward classes of a state/union territory. In case of a state, President will make such notification after consultation with the Governor. Under the new Article 342-A, the Parliament, by making a law, can include or exclude the classes from the central list of backward classes. © CETS www.conduiraonline.com Replication or other unauthorized use of this material is prohibited. Page 1 of 16 3. In April of 2017, Indian-origin Anuja Ravindra Dhir has become the first non-white judge of the Old Bailey Court. Where is this? 1: New York 4: Delhi 2: Singapore 5: California 3: London Ans: 3 Solution: She is also the youngest circuit judge currently to sit at the court. The Old Bailey Court of London is the Central Criminal Court of London. It houses 15 judges including 10 men and five women. 4. In April of 2017, Paytm has announced the launch of new feature ___________ on its Paytm Mall application. 1: NFC code 4: QR code 2: IR scan 5: None of the above 3: QR scan Ans: 4 Solution: This QR code will allow consumers to place online orders at physical stores. With this launch, Paytm becomes the first company to invest in QR code-based payment solution. The company in a statement said that the move is aimed at smartphone users of non-metros cities who still do not shop online. QR code feature will be beneficial for the partner retailers and merchants by enabling them to earn additional revenue in form of commission while eliminating the need for keeping the inventory. QR code (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix barcode (or two- dimensional barcode) first designed for the automotive industry in Japan. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to efficiently store data; extensions may also be used. 5. Identify the winner of the 2016 ACM A M Turing Award in April of 2017. 1: Sir Tim Berners-Lee 4: Sir Dillion Stanley 2: Chaylan Gyaan 5: None of the above 3: Tim Congo Ans: 1 © CETS www.conduiraonline.com Replication or other unauthorized use of this material is prohibited. Page 2 of 16 Solution: Berners-Lee received the 2016 Turing Award "for inventing the World Wide Web, the first web browser, and the fundamental protocols and algorithms allowing the Web to scale". The computer scientist is one of the world’s most influential voices for online privacy and government transparency. Tim Berners-Lee is best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web. In November 1989, he implemented the first successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) client and server via the Internet. The ACM A.M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery to "an individual selected for contributions of a technical nature made to the computing community. 6. Identify the winner of the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix in April of 2017. 1: Sebastian Vettel 4: Michael Schumacher 2: Lewis Hamilton 5: None of the above 3: Max Verstappen Ans: 2 Solution: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won. Ferrari driver Vettel came second, while Red Bull's Max Verstappen stood third in the race. Lewis Hamilton is a British Formula One racing driver. He is a three-time Formula One World Champion. He won his first title with McLaren in 2008 before moving to Mercedes, where he won back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015. His 54 Grand Prix victories is the second highest of all-time, behind only Michael Schumacher at 91. 7. In April of 2017, world-renowned sand artist, Sudarsan Pattnaik will be the Indian representative in the 10th edition of Moscow Sand Art Championship. This artist belongs to the state of ____________. 1: Bihar 4: Andhra Pradesh 2: Jharkhand 5: None of the above 3: Odisha Ans: 3 Solution: The theme selected for this year’s championship is ‘The World Around us’. It would be held from 22 April to 28 April at Kolomenskoye in Moscow, Russia. The event is going to witness participation from noted sand sculptors from across the world. Pattnaik had won the gold medal in the championship’s 9th edition in 2016 for his sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi on World peace. He was also recently honoured with a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the world’s tallest sand castle at Puri beach in Odisha. © CETS www.conduiraonline.com Replication or other unauthorized use of this material is prohibited. Page 3 of 16 8. In April of 2017, it has been known that the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh is going to set up a _______ bank for wildlife. 1: water 4: DNA 2: food 5: None of the above 3: land Ans: 4 Solution: This is the first of its kind in North India. Researchers at the institute are in the process of collecting the DNA of all wild animals. They have up until now collected samples of around 140 species. The bank would be only next to Hyderabad’s Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), which is currently the only such facility in India. 9. In April of 2017, the Union government has decided to restart the North Koel Irrigation project that was thought of nearly 40 years ago. Identify the states that will benefit from this project. 1: Bihar 4: Both options (1) and (2) 2: Jharkhand 5: Madhya Pradesh 3: Uttar Pradesh Ans: 4 Solution: The project will aim to address the water requirements in Bihar and Jharkhand. The decision was announced by the Union Minister for Water Resources, Uma Bharti during the launch of management information system (MIS) that will monitor the projects undertaken under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKYS). According to the Union Minister, the project after completion is expected to irrigate almost 1 lakh hectares of land in both the states combined. It is estimated to cost around Rs 1600 Crore. 10. In April of 2017, the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai has been appointed as the youngest United Nations Messenger of Peace. Malala represents: 1: Pakistan 4: India 2: Iran 5: None of the above 3: Iraq Ans: 1 © CETS www.conduiraonline.com Replication or other unauthorized use of this material is prohibited. Page 4 of 16 Solution: The appointment would be carried out by the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Yousafzai’s new role will include helping in the promotion of girl’s education across the world. At the age of 16, the Pakistani activist was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman, as a punishment for defying the group’s ban and advocating for female education. The incident made her fight for human rights and for girls to go to school, grow into an international movement. In 2014, Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner. 11. Identify the name of India’s first ever micro-drama festival that was held in April 2017 in New Delhi. 1: Thespis 4: Ethane Hawke 2: Cepsis 5: None of the above 3: Drama India Ans: 1 Solution: Named after Thespis of Icaria, the festival was organised by theatre group 'Vriksh'. The longest play of the festival ran for not more than 10 minutes and the shortest one lasted for only 42 seconds. The day-long event saw screening of 28 independent plays at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Art. Certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle describes Thespis of Icaria as the first person ever to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play. In other sources, Thepsis introduced the first principal actor in addition to the chorus. 12. Identify the World Homoeopathy Day.